Butler County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Butler County: 9.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 25, 2008Tornado$75.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   First EF5 tornado in Iowa since 13 June 1976. Nine deaths and 50 injuries occurred in Butler County. Tornado moved out of Butler County and continued in Black Hawk County.

2. Aug 1, 2003Drought, Butler$12.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Dry weather settled in over Iowa during the month. The last widespread rain occurred on 09 July. With the increasingly dry conditions became a primary concern as the month progressed. An extended period of heat and humidity from the 15th to 25th saw highs into the 90s to over 100 degrees F. in some locations. By month's end drought indices had worsened to severe to extreme drought across south central Iowa and at least moderate drought over the remainder of the HSA. Waterloo had its driest August on record, Des Moines its 3rd driest and Ottumwa its 8th driest. A cold front brought only a brief respite from the intense heat, as temperatures rebounded into the 90s to near 100…

3. Jul 19, 1999Flood, Butler$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A Mesoscale Convective Complex developed over north central and northeast Iowa during the overnight and early morning hours of the 18th and 19th of July. The first flash flood warnings were issued during the wee hours after midnight. The most intense rainfall, estimated by WSR-88D radar at 6 to 10 inches, fell over a relatively small area of Cerro Gordo and southern Worth Counties. The hardest hit area was around Manly, where unofficial rainfall totals of at least 13 inches were received from within the town. There was extensive flooding of homes, roads, and businesses from small streams and creeks. A tragedy was barely averted in the town of Rock Falls, when a sudden rise in…

4. Jun 25, 2013Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   About 1500 to 2000 feet of railroad tracks were washed out near Parkersburg. Several houses on the west side of town have at least a foot of water in them.

5. May 29, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large steel outbuilding was destroyed. Eighteen houses sustained structural damage.

6. May 16, 1999Flood, Butler$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   May of 1999 saw several significant flooding episodes across the Des Moines CWA. For the most part, central Iowa was spared the extremely heavy rainfall that caused major, and at several locations record, flooding along rivers in the northeast and east parts of the state. The most serious flooding was caused by heavy rains during the overnight hours of May 16. The heaviest rains fell in the counties just to the northeast of the Des Moines CWA. Up to 8 inches of rain fell over parts of Fayette County with anywhere from 2 to 6 inches falling over parts of Butler, Bremer, and Black Hawk Counties. Most of the rain fell in the Cedar River basin, which includes the West Fork Cedar…

7. Jul 22, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   House roof was partially ripped off and 6 outbuildings were destroyed with significant tree damage.

8. Jun 24, 2013Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Highway 57 closed both east and west of Aplington due to water. Numerous County roads including black topped roads are closed in the Aplington area and to the south and west of Aplington.

9. Jun 25, 2013Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The storm track shifted a bit further north in June, keeping the excessive rains confined to about the northeast one-third of the state. The month���s largest event|came from the 21st to the 23rd with Dorchester recording 8.99 inches of rain. Major|flooding resulted along northeast Iowa rivers such as the Upper Iowa and the Turkey. A second major rain event on the 24th brought 6.80 inches of rain to Lowden and resulted in major flooding along the Wapsipinicon River. Rain totals for the month varied from 2.11 inches at Holly Springs (Woodbury County) and 2.22 inches near Albia to a whopping 14.06 inch total at Dorchester (but still shy of their June record total of 15.13…

10. May 26, 2013Flood$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Beaver Creek out of its banks and flooding about a mile long section of Iowa Highway 57 west of Parkersburg. Iowa DOT has already closed that section of the highway with water reaching several houses.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

109°F2 times, most recently Jul 14, 1936

All-time low

−31°FFeb 2, 1996

Warmest night

84°FJul 21, 1991

Coldest day

−16°FJan 31, 2019

Wettest day

7.16 inJul 17, 1968

Snowiest day

14.0 inApr 9, 1973

Hottest year

1931mean 51.7°F

Coldest year

2014mean 43.6°F

Wettest year

195153.38 in

Driest year

198918.62 in

Snowiest season

71.0 in1961-62

Station Allison (USC00130157), 1,038 ft elevation, 4.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1914 to October 25, 2026; 97.8% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

Neighbouring counties

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USC00130157.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.